Google Moon is a service similar to Google Maps that shows satellite images of the Moon. It was launched by Google on July 20, 2005, the 36th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing. The landing site of each of the Apollo missions is shown on the satellite image, providing more information on each mission as the user zooms in.

Early version

The first version of Google Moon only included low-resolution satellite imagery of the entire Moon, and when zoomed in too far, a Swiss cheese pattern would appear.

Current version

The current version of Google Moon has three modes.

Apollo mode

Apollo provides information about each of the Apollo missions, including placemarks, maps, images, video, and Street View-style panoramas, all provided by NASA.

Visible mode

This mode provides the satellite imagery for the Moon, provided by the Clementine mission.

Elevation

This shows a false color rendering of the Moon's elevation.

Charts

A Charts layer is also available. This shows charts for certain areas of the Moon's surface.

Future

According to the Google Moon FAQ page, Google is working to allow Google Moon to be viewed using the Google Earth client.

References

External links

• Google Moon
• The Crater Baltimore Project — a Moon work